Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup raised its price target for Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00, maintaining a "buy" rating, indicating a potential upside of 21.63% from its current price.
• Analysts from other firms, such as Wells Fargo and UBS, have also increased their price targets for the stock, reflecting overall positive sentiment in the market.
• Despite missing earnings estimates for the last quarter, Warner Music Group reported a revenue increase of 8.7% year-over-year, totaling $1.69 billion.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Citigroup from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WMG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.65.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 1.8%

WMG traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,572,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,745,177. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.98, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The stock's 50-day moving average is $31.71 and its 200-day moving average is $30.06.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 480.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 528.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group Corp. operates as a music entertainment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through Recorded Music and Music Publishing segments. The Recorded Music segment is involved in the discovery and development of recording artists, as well as related marketing, promotion, distribution, sale, and licensing of music created by such recording artists; markets its music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as previously unreleased materials; and conducts its operation primarily through a collection of record labels, such as Warner Records and Atlantic Records, as well as Asylum, Big Beat, Canvasback, East West, Erato, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin' Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville.